City moves forward with Jaycee parking, other projects

Published 2:19 pm Tuesday, February 3, 2026

The Meridian City Council voted Tuesday to move forward with several ongoing projects throughout the city after hearing from city officials about the work. The council approved an effort to expand parking at the Jaycee Soccer Complex, authorized an agreement with engineering firm Neel-Schaffer in regards to the ongoing Eighth Street improvement project and agreed to a change order after unforeseen costs came up in a larger renovation at the city’s east wastewater treatment plant.

Jaycee Parking

The City Council approved an agreement with Willis Engineering Inc. to design a project expanding parking at the city’s Jaycee Soccer Complex. Assistant Public Works Director Mike Van Zandt said there is a need for additional parking at the complex, and the plan is to add spaces on the complex’s north side.

The exact cost of the project is not yet known as Public Works and Parks and Recreation work together to identify funding that can be used for the effort. Van Zandt said estimates put costs at around 50-60 parking spaces for every $100,000 the city spends.

Parks and Recreation Director Thomas Adams said he has some money in his budget already for the work and will work with Van Zandt to see if more funds can be added from other sources.

Councilman Dwayne Davis asked if internet use tax funds could be used for the project. The city receives roughly $3 million annually from a 7% tax on internet sales that it has used for paving and other projects in the past.

Chief Financial Officer Brandye Latimer said the parking project does not meet the criteria the city must follow when spending internet use tax money. The funds are only supposed to be spent on public infrastructure such as public roads and bridges, she said.

“The parking lot isn’t a public street,” she said.

Van Zandt said the contract with Willis is percentage-based and the total cost will depend on the size of the project.

Eighth Street Improvements

The City Council also approved a supplemental agreement with Neel-Schaffer for $20,250 in connection with the ongoing Eighth Street corridor improvements project. The project, which is being funded through a Transportation Alternatives Program grant, or TAP grant, involves correcting the geometry of intersections along Eighth Street, as well as fixing an offset in the road at the intersection of Eighth Street and 26th Avenue.

Van Zandt said the supplemental agreement has to do with properties the project will impact and deed work in connection with the project. Roughly 22 parcels will be affected by the work, he said.

The work outlined in the agreement is not in addition to the original project, and the city has known the deed work will need to be done since the beginning. Van Zandt said the change is that the work was scheduled to take place later in the project but it was moved up after discussing with transportation officials.

“In discussions with DOT (Department of Transportation), they decided they wanted to move this portion of it to an earlier phase of the project that we’re currently involved with Neel-Schaffer in,” he said. “So this is not an increase in costs, it’s just changing when we incur these costs.”

East Wastewater Treatment Plant

Also approved by the council Tuesday is a change order for $158,743.42 with Hemphill Construction for additional work out at the city’s east wastewater treatment plant.

James Lawson with Neel-Schaffer said several vital pieces of equipment have reached the end of their useful life and need to be replaced. The issue was originally thought to be a minor problem that could be fixed in-house, which is why it wasn’t included in the larger project with Hemphill, but the full scope of what is needed came to light during the construction.

“Some issues won’t arise until you get into the work,” he said.

City Attorney Will Simmons said the change order exceeds the $75,000 maximum set by state law to require projects to go out for bids, but the council does have the option of approving the work if it meets a few requirements. The work must be necessary for the project, commercially reasonable in price and a continuation of the original project, he said.

Lawson said the equipment needing replaced is critical to the plant’s continued operations, and while $158,000 is a lot of money, it’s not unreasonable. The current equipment ran with little to no maintenance for more than 20 years, he said, and that dependability is also factored into the price.

Councilman Elliot Brewer asked Lawson if he would recommend the change order or the council put the work out for bids, and Lawson said the change order is his recommended course of action. Going out for bids will take longer, he said, and it will cost more. The city would have to have an engineer design a project to fix the problem, pay mobilization costs for the winning contractor to bring its equipment on site and other expenses that will be saved by the change order route, he said.

The City Council voted 4-1 to approve the change order with Davis voting no. Davis said he voted no because of transparency concerns with change orders and wanting to make sure the process is fair.